Apparatus for starting multiple-cylinder internal-combustion motors.



' H. STOGKER. APPARATUS FOR STARTING MULTIPLE CYLINDER INTERNAL COMBUSTION MOTORS.

APP LIOATION FILED JUNE 19, I912.

Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

r////////// m u N 7 WW Mr 1% y HANS .STfiCKER, OF NUREMBERG, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO THE FIRM OF WECKEB- LEIN & ST6CKER, OF NUREMBERG, GERMANY.

APPARATUS FOR STARTTNG MULTIPLE-CYLINDER INTERNAL-COMBUSTION MOTORS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented ltlar. 1'7, 191411.

Application filed June 19," 1912. Serial No. 704,590.

To all whomtt may concern able axle c, and is provided at its hub 6 Be it known that I, Hans Srtionnn, a with a shoulder a from which an inclined citizen of the Empire of Germany, residing in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Starting Multiple- Cylinder Internal-Combustion Motors,

which the following is a specification.

It was hitherto proposed to start multiple-cylinder internal combustion -mo tors by means of automatic ignition devices, which however had the drawback that only a sin-,

gle. spark was produced by operation of the magneto, and the spark was generally not sufficiently powerful to ig'mte the gaseous mixture for starting the motor. It was also proposed to employ an auxiliary magneto for starting, but the use of'such a magneto had the great disadvantage of requiring the manual operation of special switches.

The present invention has for its object to rovide a startin a J aratus com risin an P a c:

auxiliary ma gneto,'in which the above-stated 7 drawbacks are remedied. In the improved apparatus, on turning the starting handle .of the auxiliary magneto a series of sparks is produced in' the respective cylinder, which heats up the gaseous mixture surrounding the spark tosuch a high degree as to insure ignition. By means of a special device the switching on and 011 is effected entirely in an automatic manner on turning. thehandle o" the auxiliary magneto, no other manipution being necessary. Further, by using special circuit-making device the switching-inis arranged to take place in such manner that it is impossible for the gaseous mixture to become ignited before'the motor piston has reached its highest dead center. Hence no backfiring can take place, and the motor is always obliged to start in normal direction.

One form of the improved apparatus is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which i a Figure 1 is a side elevation, with parts in section, of the auxiliary magneto and its connections, and Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the-connections.

Similar letters of reference indicatelike parts in the views.

The armature a of the auxiliary magneto is driven by means of a gear a, and pinion I). The gear-wheel a is loosely mounted on a suitable longitudinally-mow surface a leads to a second shoulder, a, removed 90 degrees from the first shoulder. The axle o is rotatable by means of a crankhandle d, and carries a radial pin 6 which is adapted to move over the inclined face a and thus cause the axle o to shift endwise; The wheel a is prevented from axial movement endwise of the shaft 0 by engagement of its hub b with a bracket 6 of the mag neto frame. Rotation of the shaft bv its handle thus first causes the shaft to be shifted longitudinally against the tension of its helical compression spring 11. until the pin 0 arrives at the shoulder 0*, namely, for 'a quarter of a rotation of the handle no movement of the gear-wheel (4 occurs; The pin e having arrived at the shoulder (1. on continued movement of the handle the gearwheel is carried along and continuously rotated so long as the handle is turned.--

The endwise movement of the axle 0 causes it to engage and move outwardly aswitch-lever f mounted at the rear of the auxiliary magneto; A block of insulating material f is mounted at the rear of the magneto, and in. said block are three terminals, g, i andlarespectively. The switchlever f is normally retained by its actuating spring f. against contact g. Said spring actuates a sliding button P which is in con stant engagement with terminal Zr. Hence when the axle o shifts the switch f, the switch breaks circuit between 71: and and establishes circuit between in and h. The high tension current now generated by the operation of the auxiliary magneto passes from brush-holder 2' of said magneto to terminal it, through lever f. contact is and lead Z, to the distributor m of the main magneto. Here the high tension current passes thi-(mgh the distributing arm at to that particular contact with which the arm is in engagement and which is not shown 1n Figs. 1 and 2 as the same is covered by the arm m and from said contact to the spark-plug of the deliver the same to the distributor of the main magneto, whence it is distributed in the usual manner successively to the cylinders. So long as the auxiliary magneto is kept in operation, no current from the main magneto reaches the distributer m. \Vhen rotation of the auxiliary magneto is discontinued, spring 72 moves the axle 0 longitudinally forward into its position of rest. Thereby switch-lever f is permitted to retreat from terminal 71,, and to close connection between terminals 9 and 7:. Thus the high-tension current from main magneto armature- 0, arriving at 9*, now passes through switch f and terminal is, to the distributer m, and no current is supplied'from the auxiliaryjmagneto because the connection between the terminal h of said magneto and the terminal 70 of the distributer m is interrupted. The motor continues in normal operation ignited only by the high tension current from the main magneto 0.

The adjustment of the segments m of the distributer plate is such as is adapted for rapid rotation of the mot-or; but the sparks produced thereby are so far advanced that for the slow rotation of starting there is danger of backfiring. To avoid the difiiculties of starting, due to this arrangement of the segments, a separate auxiliary circuit-breaker is placed in the primaryof the auxiliary magneto, so that said magneto supplies current not continuously,,but only during a portion of the time the, distributing arm m is in contact .With the respective segment. Such device is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 2, and comprises a rotating arm 8 suit-ably connected to the main magneto armature-shaft and movable over two contact-plates 8 8 The arm is grounded, and the contact-plates are both connected to the primary lead 72 of the auxiliary magneto. The mechanical adjustment is such that the rotatiiig arm s passes upon the segments 8 s and thereby shortcircuits the primary winding of the auxiliary magneto at those times during the contact between the distributer arm m and segments m when the piston of the cylinder controlled by the respective segment m has not reached its highest deadcenter. For

' example, in a four-cylinder motor, it is cus-j tomary to adjust the segments m so that each of the same is struck by the arm m before the dead center of the piston is reached, and the contact continues for approximately three-fourths of the piston stroke. But for starting, it is desirable not to fire the charge before the piston passes the dead center. Hence, the contact-plates s 8 are so arranged as to short-circuit the primary of the auxiliary magneto and prevent thereby said magneto from furnishing The motor maybe operated at slow speed for any desired length of time-by continued manual operation of the auxiliary magneto. This is of value in case of failure of the main magneto. It is obvious that for starting, it is necessary to previously leave the motor with the throttle-valve turned open so that the cylinders are supplied with fuel for the starting explosions, and it is also necessary to leave the apparatus in such position that the distributer arm m is in contact with one, of'the segments m When these conditions are fulfilled, the motor may be started in the manner described by simply rotating the auxiliary magneto, no rotation or cranking of the motor itself being required. 1

I claim:

An apparatus for starting internal combustion motors, comprising a main magneto having a distributer, a manually-operable auxiliary magneto, a switch adapted to break the high-tension circuit of the main magneto and place the auxiliary magneto in connection with the main magneto distributer, manually-operable means for moving said switch prior to operation of the auxiliary magneto, automatically acting means for returning said switch to establish the high tension circuit through the main magneto on discontinuance of manual operation of the auxiliary magneto, and a circuitbreaker connected with the primary of the auxiliary magneto, and operated by the main magneto, for breaking the primary circuit during the initial portion of the ignition contact at the distributer for each cylinder respectively. 1

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HANS STGCKER.

Witnesses E GEN Mama, Oscar Boon.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

.Washington, D. O. 

